Hello all. I have been away from this site for about a year due to my wife and I having our first child and me starting a second business. Glad I checked back and nice to see that there is a forum now.

I started reading through this site about 2 years ago when my wife and I rescued a 4 month old APBT. My wife was nervous at first (even though she really wanted the dog)and I was determined to learn all I could about the breed...more than I had already known, training, etc. I figured that I could handle this dog due to my size, strength and attitude (positive). Already owning 2 dogs at the time and having been a dog owner all of my life, I felt that I was a very responsible dog owner.

Well, I emailed Ed through this site to see if he knew of any trainers that used his style of training. Ed refered me to Will. I contacted Will, talked a couple of times on the phone and 2 weeks later Roscoe and I began our 7 hour drive from South Florida to Georgia. Roscoe spent 3 weeks with Will and I feel that it was the best decision I ever made for my dogs. Will built a great foundation of the basic dog commands and then showed me what he did when I returned 3 weeks later. It has been about a year and a half since I picked Roscoe up and I have reinforced his skills as well as tought several others. Roscoe is a easy train. Some commands, such as PLACE, he learned in about 3 minutes with only a clicker and a few treats. He is the admiration of the neighborhood now. At first everyone gave us dirty looks because we were endagering the entire neighborhood with "that" dog. Now, that has changed. Although, we are very carefull with what we do with him. ALWAYS on leash out side, ALWAYS wearing his prong collar on walks. I never let a child or stranger come up to us, no matter how sweet I think Roscoe is. I just try, to my best ability, to keep any potential negative situation from happening. Through this, Roscoe has become accepted in our neighborhood.

I'm glad I found this site years ago and made the decision to have a professional lay the groundwork for strong obedience training with my dog. It's been nothing but a positive experience with a breed who has mostly been looked at negatively. I realize this will be a daily effort for the rest of Roscoe's life...but I think that it is worth it. He is one AWESOME dog.

Sorry this was so long!!

Brian!!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Nice to hear that he worked out so well for you, he was an excellent training dog and you would have cleaned up in the Obedience ring, had you chose to compete with him.
And congrats on the baby!!

Thank for the kind words, but much of that was simply that Roscoe was such a good dog.
He has been the only dog that I've had in for training that my wife said "ya know, I'd keep this guy" - and that is more of a compliment than you can imagine!

I can still sing "Roscoe the Red-Nose Pit Bull" ( sung to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer...hey, it waa slow day when I made up that song! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> )

Thanks again for the kind words and thanks for keeping up with his training, he was a great ambassador for Pit Bulls everywhere.

Thanks for the congrats, Will.

I wanted to take his training further and possibly compete, but I couldn't find any clubs or organizations located in, or that came to, this area of SW, FL. I would have had to travel quite a bit, and pretty far on a regular basis. In your opinion, what is the oldest a dog can/should be to get into the sport? Roscoe has only just turned 2 this past May.

There is a fairly well known weightpull club about an hour and a half away. Although, that is pretty far to go to practice often. I would have to set up a weightpull track in my back yard. I don't think that I am in a neighborhood that would appreciate that. Also, weightpull sounds interesting and seems like it might be fun (being a powerlifter and bodybuilder myself) but I don't know much about the sport or its attendees. Any thoughts?

So, until something comes up, or I get the nerve to start a club (which I don't feel that I am experienced enough to organize and run), I will compete with him in my own mind. Maybe one day we'll come up to see what you've done to your club and Roscoe can see the pro's in action.

Nice to hear from you. Best of luck.

Oh, and that was quite a song. You should put out a Christmas CD for dogs! I get 10% of the profits...LOL.

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Oh, and that was quite a song. You should put out a Christmas CD for dogs! I get 10% of the profits...LOL.

Any chance of getting a picture posted?

Sure, how do I attach a picture to the post?

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Sure, how do I attach a picture to the post?

I've seen posts in which people have pasted a link to a photobucket-type site.......but maybe someone else has a better way....?

Post deleted by Will Rambeau

Well, it worked too well. I thought that it was just going to add a link to the pics on photobucket. I know that there is a seperate place for members to post pics. Sorry Jim!!

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Well, it worked too well. I thought that it was just going to add a link to the pics on photobucket. I know that there is a seperate place for members to post pics. Sorry Jim!!

But what a great photo of a BEAUTIFUL dog! Thanks!!